Franz Ferdinand play ‘Glastonbury party’ drummer-less

Franz Ferdinand played a semi-acoustic set at the Glastonbury festival site last night (September 19), after their drummer Paul Thomson missed the gig to be with his wife as she gave birth.

The band were due to headline the Equinox Pilton Party, put on by the festival organisers to thank local residents for their help with the annual event.

However, with their drummer staying in Scotland to be with his wife after she went into labour earlier in the day, Franz Ferdinand instead swapped their headline slot with The Ting Tings and played three songs acoustically before they were helped out by two replacement drummers.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard about Paul our drummer – his wife went into labour, then 20 minutes ago we heard she’d given birth to a baby boy,” singer Alex Kapranos told the crowd. “Of course, that means Paul can’t be with us tonight but we thought we’d play you some songs you might know.”

Performing stripped-down versions of ‘Jacqueline’, ‘Walk Away’ and ‘The Dark Of the Matinee’, the singer told the audience: “I’m really enjoying this, it’s good for Franz, we don’t normally get to play our songs this way. I feel like a singer-songwriter!”

The band then took things up a gear, as they were joined by one-time Fall sticksman Nick Dewey on drums.

Despite only rehearsing together earlier that afternoon, the new look Franz Ferdinand tore into ‘Michael’ and then played ‘Take Me Out’, sending the packed big top tent wild.

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The band then recruited Thomson‘s own drum tech Alan Johnston to help them finish the show, performing ‘Do You Want To’ and set closer ‘This Fire’.

Stepping up as last-minute headliners, The Ting Tings wrapped up the night with a set showcasing their debut album ‘We Started Nothing’.

Keeping the crowd on their toes with the likes ‘Fruit Machine’, a stripped-down version of ‘Traffic Light’ and former iPod advert tune ‘Shut Up And Let Me Go’, party closer ‘That’s Not My Name’ saw the Glastonbury locals recreating the ecstatic scenes of the duo’s set at the festival in June.

Earlier, the evening had been kicked off by Major Major, who had won a local competition to play the bash, while The Travelling Band, Glastonbury 2008’s unsigned band champions, returned to Worthy Farm once more to play a support slot.